IndiGo to contest diktat on pilots in Mamata incident: Did politics force DGCA's hand?

New Delhi: Six pilots flying three separate aircrafts to Kolkata last Wednesday have become scapegoats in the controversy over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s flight and its delayed landing amid emergency procedures. From all available accounts, it is clear that her life was never under threat on that balmy November evening and these three aircraft were delayed at Kolkata due to normal congestion issues. No emergency was declared by the pilots of any of the three aircraft, none reported being low on fuel - so where is the question of a threat to the CM’s life? She was not alone, there were hundreds of other passengers too on board these aircraft, waiting for a safe landing just like her. It is obvious then that politics, not aviation safety procedures, has dictated the subsequent strict action by air safety regulator DGCA. The regulator has de-rostered six pilots – two each from IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India – for allegedly being low on fuel that day. [caption id=“attachment_583365” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal. AFP[/caption]A source said that a senior DGCA officer confessed to ‘immense political pressure’ before issuing the diktat about these pilots. Director General B S Bhullar was not available for comments for this story. IndiGo has protested against strictures on its pilots by the DGCA. An airline spokesperson said, “the inquiry was conducted by the regulator supported by IndiGo safety department. Pilots operating flight 6E 342 have been kept off flying duties till investigations and discussions with DGCA are complete. As an airline we always comply with the DGCA guidelines. IndiGo captain had followed all SOPs as laid down by the regulator and at no stage did the captain declare a fuel priority or an emergency. There has been no violation or breach of any regulatory requirement in the above-mentioned matter. We are taking up the matter in greater detail with the DGCA.” In fact, each of three airlines which have been asked by DGCA to de-roster pilots has stoutly denied the ‘low-on-fuel’ charge. Besides IndiGo, Air India also plans to contest the DGCA order further. An airline spokesperson declined to offer any comments for this story. But since they have been de-rostered, the pilots of all these flights will now have to undergo corrective training before they can resume duties. A SpiceJet spokesperson did not comment on whether her airline will appeal against the DGCA decision but confirmed that the flight was not low on fuel at any time. Crying wolf is an old trick which Banerjee uses frequently. Her party’s paranoia over the delayed landing of her IndiGo flight came just around the time the CM also imagined that army deployment at some toll plazas in her state was a conspiracy against her. The army later clarified that this was routine exercise, done after following laid down procedures which include informing local authorities. In the flight instance too, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs made several allegations about a threat to Banerjee’s life. “Is there more to this than meets the eye?” asked TMC’s Derek O’Brien. “There is a school of thought that this is a conspiracy,” he said in the Rajya Sabha. On the evening of 30 November, IndiGo flight 6E 342 carrying the CM was made to hover at Kolkata airport for about an hour. Though the airline subsequently said that at no time did its pilots either seek priority landing or report low fuel, full emergency procedures were put in place by the ATC when the flight landed. IndiGo had then said that the ATC got it wrong - the pilots said they had enough fuel for diversion (to Bhubaneshwar, which is about 20 minutes away) and another eight minutes of fuel for hovering. They did not say there was any fuel shortage. The IndiGO statement after the incident said: “The flight was kept on hold for landing due to air traffic congestion at Kolkata. The pilot operating 6E 342 had informed the ATC that he has eight minutes of extra holding fuel over Kolkata (destination) before commencing diversion to the planned alternate. However, this information was misunderstood by the ATC who assumed that the aircraft had only eight minutes of total fuel left. The misinterpretation of the information by the ATC led ATC to instruct fire engines and ambulances to be stationed at Kolkata airport. We would like to clarify – IndiGo captain at no stage declared a fuel priority or an emergency. Subsequently, the air plane made a normal landing at Kolkata airport at 8.40 pm, delayed by an hour due to congestion”. An industry source said an Air India flight was ahead of the IndiGo aircraft in landing queue and the SpiceJet aircraft was third. But Air India’s AI 020 Delhi-Kolkata flight was asked to ‘go around’ at the airport and the ATC gave priority to the IndiGo aircraft carrying Banerjee to land.